Former ABC News senior national correspondent Terry Moran has said he stands by his social media post describing top White House aide Stephen Miller and President Donald Trump as 'world-class haters', despite losing his job over the remarks.
Moran, who was effectively dismissed by the network after the post, told The Bulwark political podcast on Monday that he used 'very strong language deliberately' because he believed it was true. The post, published on X on 8 June, said Miller 'eats his hate' and that Trump's hatred was 'a means to an end' for his own glorification.
ABC News initially suspended Moran pending an investigation, citing a policy against 'subjective attacks on others', before announcing it would not renew his contract. The post drew criticism from White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt, who called it 'unacceptable and unhinged', and from Vice President JD Vance, who described it as a 'vile smear'. Stephen Miller himself responded, accusing Moran of being a radical journalist who had 'pulled off his mask'.
Moran, who had been with ABC since 1997, rejected suggestions he was drunk at the time, saying it was a normal family night and he typed the post after putting his children to bed. He described himself as a 'proud centrist' opposed to 'viciousness and intolerance' in political debate.
Moran has since joined Substack as an independent journalist and plans to interview members of the Haitian community in Springfield, Ohio. The community was targeted by Trump's debunked claims about Haitian immigrants eating pets during the election campaign. Many of the Haitians in Springfield are legally present under temporary protected status, which the Trump administration has decided to end, forcing them to leave by 3 August.
